Shock absorber



June 16, 1925.

V. LANCIA SHOCK ABSORBER Filed Dec. 13. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 16, 1925. 1,512,511

v. LANCIA SHOCK ABSORBER Filed Dec. 13. 22 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III'IIIFI III] I frvre ror 1/ 0/70/67 Patented June 16, 1925.

UNITED sures-(PATE T oFr or.

ymcruzO more, or roam, ITALY.

snocx momma.

Appllcattoaflled December s use. Serial 1... 000,123.

To] all whom it may concern:

Be it known" that I,- Vmcnnzo Lenora, subject of the'King of Italy, residing at 'lurin,1Italy,have invented new and useful Improvements in Shock Absorbers; and I do hereby declare-the following to be a full, clear, and exact descri tion of the same.

The present invention relates to shock absorbers'with li uid dam ing medium and particularly to the abeor rs intended to damp the respective movements of two parts. as used in the suspension of motor cars an the like. a I

The present invention has for its object a shockabsorber of'the above class 'in which no packing is ignited and leakages are ctiiciently preven On the annexed drawing are shown by way of example two embodiments of the present. inventlonand Figure 1 is a central section of an absorber adapted for the resilient mounting of a wheel on a motor car; Figure 2 is the central section of a modified construction and Figure 3 is a general front view of a motor car in which the resent mvention is embodied in the suspension for the front wheels.

tion litseparating in it two spaces 9 and 10 -In the space 10 is located a piston 11 solid with a tubular stem 12 passing through the bore of the partition 5 and opening into the space 9; on the opposite side of the piston 11 projects a tubular stem 13'having 'ltS lower end fastened to the bottom of the sleeve 8.

Thus said piston 11 provides in the space 1( a chamber 14 enclosed between the said piston and the partition 5'. In the piston 11 are provided passages 15 which are usually closed by a valve 16 acted on by a spring 17 which rests on a flange 37 of the stem 12, and the passage 12' of the stem 12 opens in the space, 10 through port 18 and in the chamber '14 through the port 19, while the passage 13' of the stem 13 leads to the space 10 through a port 20 and has its lower end closed by a plug 21. A plug 22 is screwed in the top d of the member 5 to close the space 9, while the space 10 is closed at its bottom by a bored plug 10' sliding on the stem 13.

A sleeve 33 sliding freely in the bearing 27 encircles the spring to rotect it. I

For the operation the p ug 22 is removed and a liquid, which usually is oil, is intro- As shown on said drawing, at the front duced in the space 9. This oil flows then 28 and member 5 (due to the shocks acting" on the wheel) with respect to the bearings 8 and 27.

The said vertical member 5 is hollow' and its top end is journalled in a sleeve 7 which in turn is engaged in the bearing 27 by a cap 32 screwed on an'extension 39 of the same bearing; said sleeve 7 is provided with a flange 34 for the upper end of a spring 6 whose lower end bears on said collar 28 through the intermediate of an antifriction bearing 35. The lower end of said member 5 is mounted in the bearing 8 as above described. In the intermediate portion of said hollow member 5 is provided a boredpartistationary being fastened to the bearin and therefore an increase of pressure arises through the passage 12' of the stem 12, port 19 and chamber 14 as well as through port 18 and space 10 and finally may escape through the passages 20 and 13', the plug 21 being removed for the air escape.

The issue of oil at the bottom of the bearing 8 means that the absorber is filled in;

then the plugs 21 and 22 are put in position and the absorber is in condition of operation.

In operation when the wheel is suddenl moved upwardly, the member 5 moves wit it against the spring 6 while the piston 11 is 8 in the space 10 while a suction is produced,

in t e chamber 14.

'lhen the valve 16 clears the passages 15 of the piston 11 and the liquid ows therethrough from thespace 10 into the chamber 14. Of course the total sectional area of the passages 15 is very reduced with respect. to that of the piston 11 and therefore'the liquid flow is made very slow. and the respective movementsv of the parts are efliciently damped.

During the next stroke in opposed direction due to the reaction of the spring-6, the chamber 14 is being reduced andthe valve 18 closes the orts therefore the liquid passes from t e chamber 14 through into the space 10 through port 19, passage 12 and port-18, while the iquid in space 9 flows into the said space 10 through said passa e 12' and port 18. (It is to be held in min that the passage 12' opens at its end into the space 9). I

As the sectional area of the passage 19 1S considerably smaller than that of the ports 15, the brakin action during the downward movement of t e wheel is more eflicient than durin its upward motion, as required for damping the spring oscillations.

In any case the maximum pressure occurs within the chamber 14 which is separated from chambers 9 and 10 by the partition 5' and piston 11 respectively; no packing is required for preventin leakages of liquids because the lir lid which may escape around the stem 12 and piston 11 passes into the spaces 9 and 10 and is always available for operation. Only a weak pressure may arise in the space 10 and therefore the leakages from this space are not material while on the other hand the oil leaking from this space 10 lubricates the contacting surfaces of the member 5 and sleeve 8 which during the running of the car are continuously in motion with respect to each other.

In the construction shown in Figure 2 the-absorber comprises a hollow member 5' having solid therewith a pivot 29 for the wheel hub, and said member 5 is mounted to rotate and reciprocate in bearings 8' and 27" connected to the vehicle frame. A spring 6" is located between the shoulders 31' and 38' of the collar 27 and of the member 5 and a protecting sleeve 33 solid with said member 5 encircles said spring and moves freely within the collar 27'. The piston 11 is fastened on a hollow stem 12' which passes through the bored partition 5" of said member 5 and is secured to the top bearing 27"; the space 10 of the member 5 in which is enclosed said piston is sealed by a plug 5.

Passages 15 and a valve 16 acted on by a spring 17 are provided in the piston 11' and the passage 12 of the stem 12 opens in the chamber 14 through a port 19" while the communication with the space 9 is provided by a number of ports 23 arranged in a longitudinal row.

When the wheel and member 5' are moved upward, the oil flows into the chamber 14! through ports 15 from the chamber 10, the valve 16' beingv open, and through passage 12" and ports 23 from the space 9.

The ports 23 are provided in the stem 12' at such points of the same as to be closed bythe member 5 after each other during the displacement of this memberwvith respect to said stem, a larger number of said ports being closed by said member the more this member approaches the a per end of its stroke, therefore the area of t e free passage for the liquid is progressively reduced and the motion of said member 5' is damped more strongly when it is near the end of the stroke.

This operation is'improved by the fact that the ports 23 have a more reduced sectional area more they are distant from the piston 11' as shown on the drawing.

During the return stroke produced by the spring 6 the chamber '14 is decreasing in volume and as the valve 16' closes at this time, the liquid contained in said chamber 14' must flow through the port 19 and hollow stem 12 into the space 10' and then in the space 9 as soon as the ports 23' are cleared by the partition 5".

In this construction the maximum pressure is produced in the chamber 14 and a lower pressure in space 10', which is sealed at its bottom and is separated from the chamber 14' by the piston 11'.

Therefore no liquid leakage may occur from the chamber 10' and the oil which may escape from the space 14' around the stem 12 enters the space 9 and thus held in the device for further operation.

Leakages are prevented between the upper portion of the member 5 and the bearing 27 by the contact surface of these parts being increased as the pressure increases in the space 9'.

As above described the damping action is more eflicient when the wheel and the member 5 move down than when they move up, because the port 19" through which the liquid issues from the chamber 14 has a smaller sectional area than this chamber and than the total sectional area of the ports 15 and 12".

Attention is called to my copending U. S. patent application 605,103 filed Dec. 5th, 1922, in respect to the features described, but not claimed per se, in this application.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent 13 1. A shock absorber comprising supports, a hollow member mounted to move in said supports and having a bored intermediate partition, said supports and member being attachable to parts whose respective motion is to be damped, resilient means positioned between said supports and member. a stem fastened to one of said supports and snugly slidable through said bored partition and extending into said hollow member, a piston on said stem snugly slidable in the hollow of said member, said member and piston providing two end chambers and an intermediate chamber to be filled with liquid,.

and means for putting said intermediate chamber into communication with the two end chambers, the last said means providing partition, said supports and member being attachable to parts whos'e respective motion is to be damped, resilient means positioned between said sup rts and member, a stem fastened to one said supports and snugly slidable through said bored partition and extending into said hollow member, a piston on. said stem snugly slidable in the hollow of said member, said member and piston 1 said supports providing two end chambers and an intermediate chamber to be filled with li uid,

means for connecting said interme iate chamber with the two end chambers and providing a throttled flow of liquid when and member are moved relatively against the resilient means, and means increasing the throttling of said flowwhen the saidsupports and member move relatively under the recoil of said resilient means.

3. A shock absorber comprising supports, a hollow member mounted to move in sai supports and having a sealed end and a bored intermediate partition, said support-s and. member being attachable to parts whose respective motion is to be damped, resilient means positioned between said supports and member, a stem fastened to one of said supports and snugly slidable throuartition and extending beyon it into said iollow member, a piston carried by said stem and snugly slidable in said hollow member intermediate said bored partition and said sealed end, said piston providing an intermediate chamber-between itself andsaid partition and an end chamber between itself and said sealed end, and having. passages interconnecting the said chambers, said stem having a passage leading from the hollow of said member be ond said par- P tit-ion to the end and interm iate chambers,

said hollow and chambers receiving liquid.

A. A shock absorber comprising supports, a hollow member mounted to move 1n said supports and having a sealed end and a bored intermediate partition, and members being attachable to parts whose respective motion is to bedamped, resilient means positioned between said sup: ports .and member, a stem fastened to one of said supports and snugly slidable through said bored artition to extend beyond it and into said hollow member, a iston carried by, said stem and snugly slida 1e in'said hollow member intermediate said bored partition and saidsealed end, said iston providing an intermediate chamber tweenitself and said partition and an end chamber between itself and said sealed end and having passages interconnecting said chambers,

d bers, said stem having a away from said bore h said bored low member said supports and said stem having a passage leadin from the hollow of said member beyon said partition and to said end and intermediate chambers, said hollow and chambers receiving liquid, and means for throttling said piston passages when the said su ports and member are relatively moved under recoilof said resilient means. 5. A shock absorber comprising supports, a hollow member mounted to move in said supports and having a sealed end and a bored intermediate partition, said supports and members being attachable to parts whose respective motion is to be damped, resilient means positioned between said supports and members, a stem fastened to one of said supports and snugly slidable through said bored artition to extend beyond it into said ho low member, a iston carried by said hollow member intermediate said bored partition and said sealed end, said piston roviding an intermediate chamber between itself and said partition and an end. chamber between itself and said sealed end and having passages interconnecting these chamassage leadin from the hollow of said 0 amber beyon said partition to said end and intermediate chambers, said passage opening in said hollow through a plurality of ports closable one after the other u on said piston moving partition, said hollow and chambers receiving liquid, and means for throttling saidpiston passages when thesaid supports and moved under recoil of said resilient means. 6. A shock absorber comprising supports, a hollow member mounted to move in, said supports and having a sealed end and a bored intermediate partition, said supports and. members being attachable to parts whose respective motion is to be damped, resilient means itioned between said suprts and mem r, a stem'fastened' to one of said su ports and snugly slidable through said bored partition to extend beyond it and into said hollow member, a piston carried by said stem and snugly slidable in said holintermediate said bored partition and said sealed end, said iston providing an intermediate chamber tween itself and said bored partition, and an end chamber between itself and said sealed end, and

having passages interconnecting these chain: bers, said stem havin a passage leadin from the hollow of sai member beyond sai artition to said end and intermediate cham rs, said passage opening into said hollow .through a plurality of ports adapted to be ho ow and chambers receiving liquid, and

said stem and snugly slida le in member are relatively partition,

means for throttling said piston assage when the said supports and mom er are relatively moved in a given direction under recoil of said resilient means.

7. A shock absorber com'prisingsupports, a hollow member mounted to move in said supports and providing a tight chamber with one of them, said hollow member having an intermediate bored partition and a sealed end, said supports and member being attachable to parts whose respective motion is to be damped, resilient means positioned between said supports and member, a stem fastened to said chamber closing support and snugly slida'ble through said bored partition to extend beyond it and into said hollow member, a piston carried by said stem and snugly slidable in said hollow member intermediate said partition and said end, said piston providing an intermediate chamber between itself and said partition and an end chamber between itself and said sealed end, and having passages interconnecting these chambers, said stem having a passage leading from said end chamber and intermediate chamber. to the first named chamber between the said supportand memher, all said chambers receiving liquid, and means for throttling said piston passage when the said supports and member are member being attachable to the car struc-,.

ture and a wheel ivot respectively, resilient means positioned etween said supports and member, a stem fastened to one of said supports and snugly slidable through said bored partition to extend beyond it and into said hollow member, a piston on said stem, the piston snugly sliding in the hollow of said member, said member and piston r0- viding two end chambers and an intermediate chamber all receiving liquid, means for connecting said intermediate chamber with the two end ones, the last said means providing a tlirottled flow of liquid when said supports and member are relatively moved in one direction, and means for increasing the throttling of said flow oi liquid when the said supports and member relatively move in an opposite direction under recoil of said resilient means.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

VIN CEN ZO LAN CIA. 

